Can I ask, what did VW give you for the buyback?
As part of the settlement they are obligated to buy back any of the affected models based on a chart that lists models and mileage. If you google around you can find these. The only requirement for the cars’ condition is that they are drivable under their own power so any damage/wear and tear outside of that is irrelevant.
I have the oldest model Jetta that is included in the settlement, a 2009 Jetta. Under the settlement they are offering me $5100 cash and a ‘fix’ or around $11500 based on my model and its mileage, 120K as of September 2016, for a buy back.
I am on the fence as to what to do. I will probably just take the cash and keep the car.
I was just wondering how far off the target the VW dealership was. Holy cow were they trying to rip you off. My goodness.
$11,500 for a car with 120,000 miles on it? That’s impressive.
It’s not like VW has a lot of wiggle room. Their feet are to the proverbial fire.
Our offer from VW is $15,275. Which we’ll be taking and giving to another marque.
Seriously, you’re two weeks away from giving us a wedge of cash, why would you not just fix the radio for free in the hope we might give you all that money back for a new VW?
I’m guessing they’re just the usual short-sighted types that are endemic in all sorts of businesses. It does seem amazingly dumb.
Then again, it’s not limited to any particular brand. We went to the Chevy/Buick dealer last year looking for a replacement for my wife’s CR-V. The salesman took one look at us, noted that they mostly sell Silverados, and pointed vaguely in that direction towards where we might find some SUVs. Then wandered off to sell trucks to someone. Needless to say, we ended up elsewhere (Ford, in this case, at a dealer where I’d purchased a couple of cars over the years and where they were very solicitous). Ditto the Subaru dealer some years ago, when I was coming off lease. I expressed an interest in buying a new Subaru, and got like zero interest in working with me, or even showing me something. I ditched them quickly.
I am getting $18,500 for my 2010 Golf. I know guys with newer cars feel like they are getting ripped off, but I am thrilled with that. Basically in 6 years I only lost 8 grand on my car. I wouldn’t have bought a new car if it wasn’t for this, but I am not arguing.
Still waiting for approval on mine though. Looks like at some dealerships buy back dates are already into January. According to someone on Reddit, VW was not ready for this many people trying to return their cars right away. Not sure what they were thinking, especially since many people still have monthly payments to make.
For sure but basically every charted result has $5100 added on to it for the compensation piece of the settlement. So its basically $5100 to everyone that has a diesel engine affected by the settlement, and then the assumed value of the car in very good condition prior to the scandal added to that.
My dilemma is that I am not in a good spot to buy a new car right now, and also need cash. So if I took the buy back I would be looking at trying to get a car as reliable as my 09 Jetta. Hard to do, from my perspective.
How long does a person have to decide to take advantage of this offer?
Two years I believe it is. Plus, you can take the fix, if and when it arrives. Who knows how much it will reduce performance though. No thanks, I love my car, but it’s way too good of a deal to pass up.
September 2018 is the deadline for taking either the buyback or the compensation.
Not a huge surprise. You don’t take a huge hit like the dieselgate thing without consequences. I still wonder what the long-term impact will be on VW’s North American presence and operations.
The entire landscape of automobile manufacturing and selling is beginning to change, though, with some industry folks like Bob Lutz offering opinions pointing to anything from a massive consolidation to the disappearance of cars as we know 'em. With autonomous cars on the horizon, if a bit dimly still, crossovers/SUVs continuing to destroy traditional models in the marketplace, and the frenzy building to get into electrics–combined with deteriorating infrastructure and the likelihood that any infrastructure work will have to look forward to electrics and autonomous cars, and not backwards to supporting traditional vehicles–you can make a good case that we’re in the twilight age of the classic automobile.
Sort of like the dinosaurs after the meteor but before the dust fully settled.
Shit just got real.
Why didn’t we do that to all the banking people who tried to destroy our economy?
Lying to consumers and lying to investigators are two very different things.
Bankers are much better at plausible deniability as well, they’ve got it down to an art.
Never lie to the Feds. Always just play stupid and “forget” everything you’ve ever known.
Did the Brandenburg Gate-style spy handover today of my old VW for a new one. A different VW dealer graciously offered to fix our problems with the radio and other stuff in our car for free, so we went to them instead of our original dealer.
With the buyout, the apology payment last year and a loyalty payment this year for pushing the chips back across the table I walked out with a new Golf Wagen for about two grand.
So that’s nice.